Enlightenment
by Kitt Chaos
Summary: In an average fight against an average foe, everything changed for Golbez. AU


Enlightenment

It had happened the very first time they fought. He didn't know it at the time; it would take many renewals before he understood the way of things in this neverwhere place enough to realize how extraordinary the occurrence was - the flash of recognition so deep it stabbed through his very being like the sharpest blade.

There was nothing remarkable about the warrior in dark armor who confronted him and barred his way. The armor itself appeared mundane and bore the signs of use and wear in the way the light fell deeper into the cuts, scrapes and grooves left behind by weapons both edged and blunt - mementos of past battles recorded in the darkened steel instead of upon the flesh protected within. His battle instincts noted the warrior's stance; his height, breadth, and mass; the fluidity of his movements; and the comfort and familiarity with which he held his weapon. A strange weapon for a knight, appearing more like an oddly abbreviated lance with a honed edge than the customary sword.

_Who am I to pass any sort of style judgement, conventional or otherwise, on anyone here? _he thought. _There's a living embodiment of a tree, a woman with two Venus flytraps melded to her hips, and a clown on 'our' side. Though the blade is unknown to me, I doubt it can make even the merest dent in my armor. I suppose he is a plain, but serviceable warrior, well-matched to his plain, but serviceable armor._

The opening tactics did nothing to change his opinion. _How droll. 'Dark' and 'shadow' attacks to go with his 'dark' appearance. Well, it would be droll if he were on 'our' side. Since he fights for the other side, I suppose it is - mildly interesting. Perhaps I can - turn him._

Now, there was a thought. He took a moment while shaping his next damaging spell, and centering the destructive force of it on his foe with the framing of his hands, encased in their own massive gauntlets, to regard the warrior again. Yes, dark armor, and such attacks as had landed thus far were not exactly filled with the light and harmony one would expect from the other side. A mystical miss-call perhaps? Should this shadowed knight have appeared to fight for their side? Maybe convincing him to fight alongside the forces summoned by the demonic Chaos would be enough to turn the tide that was drifting far too close to a stalemate for his comfort, and end whatever cosmic contest they had all fallen prey to. At least, that's what he gleaned from his meditations upon the mystic weave of this place, trying, without success, to recover his memory. He knew his existence was more than just this endless arena of battlefields. The weight of a lifetime's memories pushed vainly against the giant block in his mind, even as he tried to assail the block from the other side without success.

Brute force hadn't worked. Shaping his mental focus, and therefore his magic force into the strongest, but tiniest point in the hope of slipping through to recall just one memory, hadn't helped. It had been nearly a week since he first opened his eyes in this benighted realm, and the only memories he could call his own were the miserable ones of fighting the forces of 'Cosmos', the goddess of harmony, by order of the one who had summoned him, 'Chaos', the god of discord. Even these high and lofty names and titles didn't resonate with his sealed memories. The gods he worshiped, if indeed he worshiped any at all, had different names. That much the blankness in is mind assured him.

"Halt!" A ball of dark and crushing mystic force evoked by the dark warrior latched onto him, and flung him to the ground while he was inattentive in his musings.

_Th-that had the same touch of gravity as some of my attacks, but he is just a warrior!_ Golbez wondered to himself as he regained his composure and battle stance. _Perhaps there is more to this sinister fighter's skills than just his odd blade._

"Darkness! Drink of anguish!"

_That stung! Definitely more than just a weapon-dependent warrior, to have breached my wards and hurt me!_ _Who - are you?!_ He wondered as he floated backward, away from his unexpectedly dangerous, and suddenly very interesting, foe_. At least I have a slight advantage in speed..._

Even as he thought this, the whole nature of the battle changed. The knight leveled his strange weapon at him, and dove through the air in an attack so ferociously swift he couldn't dodge it.

"Miracle! Beneath the light - comes judgement!"

The charging attack was so swift, the change so drastic, that all of Golbez's defenses failed, and the now-gleaming warrior's weapon found its mark, striking with impressive force against the armor of his chest. He flipped over backward, and immediately, his battle instincts took over to bring him back up to his knees. He rested as briefly as possible, hoping his head and vision would clear quickly from the spinning of his hard toss to the unyielding ground. When he looked up, he expected to find his ominous opponent's blade aimed at his vulnerable heart. Instead, the shining warrior had backed up, permitting him space and time to regain his feet.

"A curious mercy to offer a foe in a fight," he mused. _Honor can so easily spell doom in these conflicts._

He lifted his clearing gaze to the knight's face. No helmet obscured his view, and...

He nearly went down in his shock, again. Everything rushed back - his past, his father, his mother, his lost childhood, his weakness, his world, his blood-soaked conquest, his defeat, his self-exile, his - _his_...

_Cecil! My brother! _His heart cried it so loudly he wondered the other didn't hear it. A quick though searching gaze into his brother's eyes revealed that Cecil did not recognize him. _To think I have been brought to fight unknowingly against my brother _again!_ What does the universe have against us - against me? He is not my foe - why are we always in conflict?!_

Cecil resumed attacking him once he stood, well, floated, straight again. _I - can't..._

The battle had transformed along with his brother, and the sudden return of all of his memories. Cecil's attacks were lighter than before, but in his paladin guise, he was a touch faster than Golbez. He found it harder to dodge his younger brother's determined attacks, yet he could not bring himself to retaliate. _I won't fight you until I know what we are fighting for!_ Golbez vowed silently. _So, the only alternative..._

Golbez permitted openings to appear in his defense, and reacted strongly whenever he was hit. Though he couldn't bring himself to harm his brother, he didn't want to take too much hurt himself. The return of his memories before he had been brought to this place did not erase his memories of his experiences here. The forces of Chaos, his own 'side', would pounce on him if he showed the slightest weakness. After accepting what seemed to be a reasonable number of unreturned attacks, Golbez went down and stayed there.

"I - am pained as well," Cecil said, looking down at him. Golbez's heart elated at the words, perhaps Cecil's memory... _No, it is only my brother being himself - a self that even amnesia can't erase_. Golbez smiled bitterly.

"Cecil!" A voice called from the edge of their battlefield. "Are you all right?"

_Kain,_ Golbez thought. _Yes, it makes sense that you are here, too. Actually, I am happy that you are here, at my brother's side. Even if neither of you recognizes the other - yet._

"Yes." Cecil nodded, and dropped his weapon so the point aimed at the ground as the other warrior of Cosmos neared. He looked down at Golbez, a slight frown marring the smoothness of his features. "I thought he had me, but then..."

"Then?" Kain asked.

"No, it's nothing. We should return to Cosmos, my friend. Our mission was successful?"

Kain planted the haft of his spear on the ground in a decisively arrogant gesture. "But, of course! Still, I did not have the chance to cross weapons with any of our foes. I envy you. Perhaps next time...? We should go. The others are waiting."

Cecil nodded.

_You might not recall yourself, my brother, but you are still true to the light within. Those of 'my' side would taunt and torture until a fallen foe dissipated from the field. Do all of you on Cosmos' side show such mercy to your enemies? Is that the difference...? What can I do to save you, if none of your side have the strength to do what must be done to win? Will I have to attack you, and try to defeat you in earnestness before this is all over, Cecil? _The very real possibility that he would have to pained him. _To find I must fight against you, it is more than..._

"Is my struggle in vain?"

He hadn't realized he uttered anything aloud until Cecil knelt and placed an item on the ground within reach of his hand. "Here. You need this more than I do." He glanced up to make sure Kain was still walking away. "I don't know why you stopped attacking me, but if you are not -" Cecil sighed deeply. "If you don't want to fight for Chaos, perhaps you can fight for our side. Think about it." He stood, stared down with a blend of hopefulness and acceptance on his face that twisted in Golbez's heart like a knife, then turned and followed after Kain.

Golbez waited until both warriors were out of sight before reaching for the crystal bottle his brother had left for him. _A healing elixir. Given to what he believes is his enemy. Oh, my brother, what sort of fool are you?_ Golbez placed the small phial in a place of safety within the confines of his armor and then regained his feet. _Perhaps not such a fool after all._ He considered. _I may have to fight you, Cecil, but perhaps I - from the other side perhaps I can aid the forces of Cosmos and save you from this place. Even if you never recall who I am. A double agent working for the side that didn't summon me, and therefore has no idea that I work for their goals. _Golbez smiled grimly._ If that is what it takes, so be it. The light may have no use for a tainted one like me, but I will do all I can to make sure it continues to shine on. Especially in my brother._

Golbez turned away from the eternal night sky of the Lunar Subterrane that had been this most important battlefield, and took his first step along the path of his shadowed destiny.

~end~

Author's notes -

I know this story isn't in agreement with the canon story of Dissidia and Duodecim. Cecil had not been summoned until after both Golbez and Kain had regained at least part of their non-Dissidia memories. I suppose I could rewrite this battle to have taken place between Golbez and Kain, and it could serve as the proximate cause for at least Golbez to regain his memory, but the impact of the bond of brothers between Golbez and Cecil would have been lost, and that is what I wanted to explore. So, I'm content to label this one as alternate universe, and let it be.

I also took a few liberties with the combat dialogue, not only mixing bits from both games together, but also using snatches from the Secret Voices section of the PP Catalog.


End file.
